Our range of Hawthorn bare root plants (Crataegus monogyna)

We have Hawthorn bare root hedging plants (can also be used as small trees) in several specifications and heights.  The 1+0 1 year old plants are seedlings (often called whips) which were grown from seed sown in the spring and are sold during the following November to April months ie they are 1 year old.  We have Hawthorn whips in several heights all grown by us in Herefordshire.

We also have Hawthorn transplants (1+1, 2 year old plants) which began as a one year old whip (grown from seed in one growing season) and are then planted back out for one more growing season in a different area of our fields at lower density to give each plant more space, nutrients and water. Again these are all grown by us in Herefordshire.

We sell more hawthorn plants than any other species so we always have several batches of seed including UK provenance (in the coming season we will have 4 different UK provenance batches) plus some of the highest quality imported seed (often more resistant to mildew) so if the seed provenance is important to you, please give us a call.

Hawthorn (Crataegus Monogyna) Summary

The UK countryside wouldn’t look as it does without the native Hawthorn hedges, particularly in May when its creamy white and pink scented blossom covers every country hedge and road verge up and down the land. It is the backbone of farm hedging due to its thorny and dense stock-proof habit (great for wildlife habitat), profuse flowering (great for pollinating insects – it is thought to support over 200 different types of insects) and equally profuse red berries (called haws) which cover it in autumn until eaten by birds (especially fieldfares, waxwings, blackbirds, and thrushes).

Hawthorn is used in many settings - it can be grown as a hedgerow or standalone small tough tree (and in this case it will produce even more berries due to not being trimmed allowing it to flower and then produce berries on old wood), used as a single species hedge, as a woodland shrub or most popular of all, it is often the main component of a mixed native stock proof hedge (see our separate page for bare root mixed native hedging packs). It is well suited to hedge laying.  It is hard to know when Hawthorn became popular as a hedging plant but it is thought that in the period of the Parliamentary enclosures of land, 200,000 miles of "quickset" hedges were planted across Britain (quickthorn or thorn still being common names that are frequently used today).

Soil and Situation

Hawthorn is suited to all soil types other than boggy ground and is good in sun or shade. It’s particularly recommended for exposed sites, even at reasonably high altitudes and copes well at the coast. It is non-toxic which contributes to its use in farm hedging where livestock might graze.

Hawthorn is one of our most important species for wildlife shelter and defence, for wildlife sustenance and a boundary marker.

Leaves, flowers, fruit and bark

The leaves of Hawthorn are about 6cm long with many toothed deep lobes (at least halfway to the mid rib). They grow on long shoots and emerge early in spring as bright green and then darken as the summer progresses until they are really quite dark green. The leaves turn yellow in autumn, and it is fully deciduous. The spines on Hawthorn are modified branches that grow just above new buds to protect the plant from browsing animals.  The new leaves on Hawthorn attract larvae as a perfectly timed "protein surge" for birds feeding their young.

The flowers have 5 petals and grow in flat topped clusters and when we say they are profuse we're not exaggerating.  The autumnal berries called haws are small, red and shiny and held in clusters. Each haw contains just one hard-shelled seed.  The flowers and leaves when freshly picked were known as "bread and cheese" - a popular springtime snack.

Bark is brown/grey and fissured (great for little insects to hide in which increases the attractiveness of the species to birds) - it is said that hawthorn is a biologically important hedging species.

The buds, leaves and branches have an alternate pattern.

The wood is hard to work and because it grows in multiple trunks, it is of little use other than as firewood.

Eventual height and growth rate

As a tree, it will grow to a height of about 15m and can either be single stemmed with a dense crown or more likely will grow into a  shrubby, multi-stemmed tree. It is fast growing (young plants will grow by about 40cm pa) and can tolerate hard pruning at any time of the year (though definitely not before 31 July to allow baby birds to fledge) but is most often pruned in late autumn or preferably very early spring, leaving the haws as winter food for birds and small mammals.

It flowers and fruits on “old wood” which is why you so often see little flower or haws at low levels where hedging has been trimmed and then more profuse flowers/haws higher up (or on Hawthorn trees) where it has not been trimmed. To maximise flowering/haw production in hedging, don’t trim it every year, or leave some areas untrimmed. In a mixed hedge, hawthorn is generally the dominant species (unless its wet soil where blackthorn would be better), and because Hawthorn is not a bulky plant, and is the least expensive of all hedging plants available, it often makes up 50% or even more of plants in a mixed hedge. You can reduce the cost of a mixed hedge by planting more hawthorn interspersed with fewer of the additional species.

Also known as Thorn, May Blossom, Quickthorn and Quicksets or sometimes just as Quick hedging.  Rosaceae family.

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